A visually impaired Guyanese cricketer lost his life on Friday in St Lucia after he encountered difficulty in the water on a beach trip.
Gordon ‘Fambo’ Sandiford, 28, of 18 Prince William Street, Plaisance, was a member of the Guyana Blind Cricket Team who were in St Lucia for a tournament.
When he was pulled from the water he was frothing at the mouth and could not be resuscitated. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital on the island.
Sandiford’s father told Stabroek News yesterday that at the moment he is awaiting the post-mortem results from the island nation. “We got the impression that he got a seizure…they said in initial reports he didn’t drown so we are waiting on the PM for something definite”, the man’s father told Stabroek News noting, however, that his son had never before suffered from seizures.
He said that when he last spoke with his son on Monday prior to the team flying out for the tournament Gordon was excited as it was his first trip outside of Guyana.
The man’s father told Stabroek News how the news came as a shock and he was awaiting the return of the team along with coaches to find out more information on what occurred. “After fish is Gordon,” his father noted, expressing how well his son could manage in the water.
He said that the team’s manager called on Friday informing him of his son’s tragic death noting that rain prevented the team from playing in the tournament and as a result the entire squad went instead for an outing to the mall and Pigeon Island beach. He said that the police were investigating the matter and he hoped to have more information by today.
The cricketer’s father said that his son was an athletic person having been on the cricket team for a number of years. He had been introduced to the sport by his brother who had been on the team originally.
Gordon wasn’t born blind but due to degenerative glaucoma he lost most of his vision in his late teens. He remained depressed for a number of years until making a decision that he wouldn’t let his disability keep him from his music and his athletics.
The young man’s father said that his son enjoyed making music with his brothers and planned to go back to the Guyana School for the Blind to continue learning braille. Sandiford’s father spoke fondly of his son recalling that he was very well liked because of his positive attitude.
“Gordon would come in and make his presence known,” his father said smiling. He told this newspaper that Gordon was close to his siblings, eight children in all.
The National Sports Commission in a release yesterday expressed its sympathy to Gordon’s family. According to the statement, after the cricketer was pulled from the water, paramedics began working on him and after feeling a pulse he was rushed to the hospital but passed away during transfer. The commission stated that Sandiford “encountered difficulty” in the water.
